How Does Your Garden Grow...

Britte and I worked hard on our family garden this year. We're excited, because everything is getting so big! We planted...

Cantaloupe in the corner, and Pumpkin (the massive plant in the foreground)

WATERMELON!!! We have 5 of these adorable little babies growing!

We transplanted this plumeria tree from my grandpa's house. We thought it might be dying, but now it's flowering a lot, and it smells so delicious!

Sunflowers and African Daisies

Crazy amounts of zucchini (Dad always plants too many hills!) and a random assortment of Tomato plants

Chili Peppers, Green Bell Peppers, and (my new favorite) spinach =]

We also have a bunch of carrots in another planter box, with a couple of strawberry plants that don't seem to want to grow for some reason...Oh, and some lettuce plants in the window, Chinese lantern flowers in a pot, and a small palm tree in another pot.

I'm a little more excited now about going to Florida, because my Dad says you can have a garden there all year round.

Oh, Ridiculousness, How Should I Describe Thee?

Once upon a time there was a Bekah--an inconspicuous young lady, who moved back to the town of her raising (no, not her birth--that's on the other side of the country) to take care of a little problem. The little problem concerned two properties that her grandfather owned. After he passed away, the family decided to sell the properties. Unfortunately, no one in her family had time to take care of the problem. So Bekah, who was planning on leaving and embarking on a 3+ year adventure to the boondocks of Tallahassee, decided said problem should be taken care of before she immersed herself in a whole other problem that would suck up her time.

Sadly, the more she cared for this problem of properties, the larger and more complicated it became. The whole situation reminded her of the Hydra from Hercules. The more she tried to cut off the head of the problem, the more heads grew out of his monstrous body. And the heads nibbled on Bekah. A little too much.

I've been a little broken for the past few months. I'm knocking on wood and trying not to tempt the Wrath-of-the-Whatever-From-High-Atop-the-Thing, but I think what broke me is almost over. We'll have to see. Maybe one more fast Sunday will do the trick. I'm even starting to let myself believe, again, that I might be able to actually afford to move to Florida, let alone possibly not be completely broken when I start my doctorate. That would be difficult, trying to get a doctorate in social work while being all emotionally/mentally/spiritually mangled.

I'm just glad I'm learning how to put myself back together again. =] I don't mean for this to be a sad entry. It's not. I'm on my way. So CELEBRATE my friends!

You Can't Quit, Because You're Fired!!!

Okay, so I didn't really get fired. I really did quit. I gave my notice just over two weeks ago, and in the email I sent to my boss (who is always out of the country. I think he was in Jakarta at the time), I told him I could either stay until around the 20th of February or the 5th of March, if he needed me here longer. He emailed me back and asked if I could stay until the end of March, because some of the teachers weren't going to be here in time for the new semester. I emailed him back and said I could stay longer, but only until the 20th or so because my brother is getting married on the 25th of March. Then, just yesterday I get an email from the International Office (not even from HIM) saying they'd like me to leave either the end of February or stay until April. Why would I stay until April? My brother is getting married!! Did he just forget my logical reasoning? GAH! Sometimes these people drive me crazy!!!!!!

Sorry I got on here just to rant. Really, I've been having a great time. When I feel a little less cloudy in the brain area I'll post actual, useful things for you guys to read. The past month and a half back have been rather crazy. I've been wrangling kids for the winter English program they host here at the school when the university isn't in session. I was basically working 12 hour days for a month. Now I'm recuperating, organizing the office, and adding "figure out how to move back to the US in the next two weeks or so" to my list.

Someday I'll be sane again. I had to leave the office today because I was getting so overwhelmed with stuff to figure out. Good thing I found this little notebook while I was wandering somewhat aimlessly around Janghowan. It said on the front "Now and then it's good to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be happy." Great quote. And it's one of the few in Korea that doesn't have obvious English mistakes in it. So I bought it.

Souvenirs anyone. before I leave South Korea for (possibly) good?

I don't care what people say...

I don't care what people say...

~The new Narnia movie is great

~I have yet to draw up the energy to see the new Harry Potter

~Frozen peas are good. Eating them frozen is like having a treat

~No pain, no gain might be true. But yes pain, yes gain is definitely true

~Weird looking ornaments you made with macaroni noodles when you were little will always look better than the fancy store-bought ones

~You're not crazy if you talk to yourself, and then answer yourself back. Yet.

~Any references to Serenity/Firefly in Castle are hilarious

~The Sorcerer's Apprentice is also awesome

~It's not Christmas until Neil Diamond sings it, even if he is Jewish

~That other version of "Life is a highway" NOT sung by Rascal Flatts is terrible. PERIOD

~If any more books about vampires, wizards, or dragons come out, I'm going to have to sue the literary community for lack of imagination. Today I was thinking I should write a book and mention dragons in it all over the place ("Hey, remember when that dragon attacked our village and burned all our crops?"), but never actually HAVE the dragon appear. Just to tick people off and keep them confused.

That's all for now. I'll think of more later.

Until then, enjoy the show.

Cheese!

Rice collected into white bags. But don't they look like marshmallows?

You don't realize how much you like cheese until it costs 8,000 won.

I'm back in the US, but just for a month. Supposedly I'm going back to Korea. I say "supposedly" because I'm waiting on my work visa. And yes, I really do want to go back. Mostly because I really want to go see the Great Wall of China and the terracotta warriors, hopefully this February.

Anyhow, I've been having fun with my family. My little brother, Dave, got back from his mission last Thursday. He's been trying to register for classes, find a job, and plan his whole future in the last three days, and watching him get frustrated over his inability to complete these tasks immediately reminds me of when I was fresh off my mission. Stir crazy after just five days of being home. I think I'll make him paint the hallway. That'll give him something to focus on while he's waiting for life to happen.

I've been spending my time avoiding grading my students' finals and instead working on the backyard. We had a ginormous (not a word) tree removed a little while ago, and just a few months ago the fence was finally completed. Now things have overgrown and gotten a little scary looking, so for some reason I've decided to dedicate my time to finding the backyard. That is, when I'm not watching The Sorcerer's Apprentice over and over. Great movie, great music...but where's the baseball-exploding scene from the trailer? I keep watching the movie hoping it will appear. And no, it's not in the deleted scenes either. =[ Sad day. Still, I love the main song. Other than all that, just decorating for the holidays and trying to decide what to do with my life. You know, the usual.